Author: stevehaarman

Such a wonderful gift
Seemingly taken for granted
Living in this country
No contemplating the good fortune
Preponderance of information
Distracting us from living
In a sweet groove of everything going right
Then awakened by a crisis
We read of others; see the videos of strife
Those are other people; not us
We see the pictures of the floods
Many lives lost; but not ours
Tornadoes causing devastation
From Haiti to Tennessee; we have clean water
Locusts devastating eastern Africa
Our supermarkets are full of food
Dictators around the world
Bringing misery to their citizens
Children and adults dying of starvation
We have shelter, heat and electronics
Very few know what it is to be ravaged
To be homeless and addicted
The plight of our veterans is almost kept a secret
Drug cartels rule Mexico; we cannot call them terrorists
Sex slave traffic crosses our border
Border Patrol are not allowed to do their jobs
Illegals seem to cross at will
When will we learn?
When do we come together to solve issues
When does a nation return to its core values?
When do we return to significant prayer?
When will music be significant again?
When with the Chinese Virus be under control
These are things I think about as
I meditate on life
 
Stanski
March 21, 2020 ^

This old world keeps on turning
Socialism is falling on its face
Socialists are blaming the President
They were busy keeping records and
Impeaching him in the House for
Things which were not impeachable
They voted to close the border
Then voted not to close the border
Their judges provided injunctions
Other delay tactics were used
The Virus is all his fault
The floods in Mississippi were his fault
The tornadoes in Tennessee were his fault
The market crash is his fault
It was his fault that all the people running
For the presidency in the Democrat party
Raised their hands to give free health care
To the illegals, while these same people
Ignored our service men’s needs for years
 
There are many grave stones marked
With the death year 1918, 1919, and 1920
The Spanish Flu was devastating; we survived
But the past can be forgotten
Let it blow away like smoke
Now is the time to teach our children and
Set good examples for them
Radios did not become popular until the late 1920’s
Communication was very slow
Today it is 24/7 and mostly negative
Respect and discipline seem to be foreign words
There is a difference between responsible criticisms
That aim for success, and defeatism that refuses
To acknowledge anything but failure
Hindsight alone is not wisdom, and
Second-guessing is not a strategy
 
Stanski
March 21, 2020 ^

Thousands of snowflakes in the air
Slowly drifting to the ground
Mr. Wind is blowing his horn and
The music is peaceful and soothing
Wave after wave greets the sandy shore
The sky is bright, a gray-white color
Sunshine is not going to greet us today, but
There is a feeling of order taking place
 
If we have close to nine billion people
Living on the earth at this time and
They equal twenty-five percent of all
The people who have ever existed
Then thirty-six billion people have been
Or are on the earth up until now
How many snowflakes in a shovel of snow
How many grains of sand on a beach
 
We are mighty beings and each important
No one is less significant than the others
The cemeteries are full of the indispensable
Sidewalks are full of the deplorable
Many rise up to grab for power
They are struck down inevitably
There is only One we must answer to
Many are eager to tell their own story
 
Not all believe, but He knows all the stories
Thirty-six billion stories, all important
One wonders where all those souls are
He said that in His Father’s house
There are many rooms
No one can ascertain; we believe
He made it easy for us; He died for us
We must only love Him and our neighbor
 
He said to build His Temples with love
We, in our ignorance, bring stones
Will we ever learn?  Is it too late to know?
Glaciers existed where I now sit
Men still seek power; ignoring love
Thankfully, He is still for us
Our free will gives us the power to choose
We would be wise to select the Light
 
Stanski
March 20, 2020 ^
 

 
I like to go back in time
                From time to time
Not because I liked it so
                Or couldn’t forget
It was a little different
                A much slower pace
 
Party line telephone
                A land line
Long distance calling
                Something special
 
ColoniaL bakery delivering bread
                Sealtest milk the same
Both used horses to pull the wagons
                You knew their names
The driving crew
                And after a while
                   They knew yours, too
 
Twenty seven houses on a city street
                Twenty different churches attended
                                Eight schools at least
A diversified group
                We got alone pretty well
 
Those times were good times
                And I like to dwell there
Think about it a little
                Go back for a while
                                But not for keeps
I like today, too
                Don’t know about tomorrow
 
Stanski
March 19, 2020 ^
 

Some of the best poems
We’ve never read
Have not been put down
On a paper with pen
Remaining as it were
In the stem of the poet
 
We will never know them
Or recite them from memory
But will be moved to take note
And not repeat that act
Because no one deserves
That type of neglect
 
Stanski
March 19, 2020 ^

We are in troubled times
This is not the first occasion
People individually suffer loss
Nothing new about that
There is always a joyful side
To tragedies of every kind

The band played on
When the Titanic sank
The song was “Nearer my God to Thee”
It was appropriate for many

Other songs could have been chosen
Amazing Grace, What a friend we have in Jesus,
How great Thou art, Abide with me and
It is well with my soul all would have sufficed
 
What kind of music should we choose?
We are in a crisis and must keep our spirits up

Country and Western
Blue Grass
Classic
Operatic
Rock and Roll
Jazz
The Blues

Any or all will do
Just play it my friends
You know the tunes
The ones with meaning
That make you laugh and cry
 
Just think of jazz and the jazz musicians
They came together after hours and would jam until dawn
Hearing it could make your heart stand still
But tomorrow you will be glad that you listened

We must listen now
This is the time
We cannot chase the wind
Cannot count the stars
But we can do music
Can't we?
 
Stanski
March 18, 2020 ^

I think in degrees, often jumping 
from one subject to another,
fascinated by accomplishments of people 
I have read about and
angry at not knowing more, wondering about 
what happened in school
Where was the emphasis and 
why were some books recommended and others not
Why was everyone taught in the same way 
even though we learn differently?
 
No one’s fault it is just the way it was.  
When you investigate you see
that things have not changed much 
except history has been revised
important events reduced to a few paragraphs 
or omitted altogether and recent 
characters of history given a whole chapter
 
It is to our own demise that 
we continue in this way
The ACLU has caused a huge breakdown in 
the morality of the country 
Children need notes from their 
parents for an aspirin tablet but
an abortion many take place and 
the parents have no right to know or interfere
 
Accountability and respect 
are diminishing in importance
Writers spiel out opinions which are praised 
even though they lead to the cliff 
we will probably fall over
 
Hollywood takes great liberty in indoctrinating
the masses creating victim-hood and envy
Uninformed actors grab the headlines
with remarks of hatred 
Judges make unconstitutional decisions 
Politicians who were for something 
important at one time are now against it 
because they do not like our leader
who is actually doing something about
the poor condition our country has been left in
by recent administrations 
 
People do not recognize that there are
no Republicans or Democrats. 
There are conservatives and liberals and
the swamp which contains
members from both sides of the aisle. 
So we have the swamp versus the deplorable
May the swamp, by the grace of God,
be drained and people then wake up
 
Each of us wants out thoughts to be correct
Maybe they are and maybe not
One thing for sure is that truth will eventually rule
we will be long gone and forgotten and
the same arguments will be taking place
Foolishness is perpetual and
the weak cling to it
They should reform and look at things differently
Look at them in the way that I see it
Then they will be alright
 
Stanski
March 18, 2020 ^

We are so important
in our own minds
Waiting to be discovered
Latent recognition
Astounding people
who had no idea of
our meaningfulness and
are late in their acknowledgement
 
We, in the later stages of living,
look inward for discovery
Who were we and were
expectations of us achieved?
What did we leave on the table?
Do we have reasons for this or excuses?
Is diligence a foreign word?
How about attention to duty or obligations?
 
We keep thinking, silently meditating
Were we seeds of anything useful?
Is the world a better place
for our having been here?
We all wish for the positive
Think we were better than
what others will ever know
Knowing that we are only stardust
 
We think of generations past,
civilizations known and unknown
and of our own importance, but
We are only specks; our earth a blue dot
In the vast universe where black holes
swallow up burnt out suns and stars
We will still play our music; write our poems
Make love and war and pray for peace
 
I will die and you will die and our atoms
will be swallowed up by a shoreless sea
Our existence, a cosmic blink, is over
Our dust, stardust, will return to the Creator
 
Stanski
March 18, 2020 ^
 

 
Gray days
Light breeze
Leaves on palmetto trees
Dance in time
 
Rhythm in tune
With offshore waves
Crashing gently on
Ocean sandbars
 
Birds fly low
In flocks
Looking for today’s food
Scurry upward and back
 
Keep moving and looking
Success comes inevitably
Action begets action
Air warriors continually act
 
Moon eclipse today
Won’t be seen
Clouds are the usurpers
Sun denied stage
 
Heavy green grass
Cushions walker’s feet
Flocks join flocks
Eclipse, non-celestial, dazzles
 
Micro-activity occurring
Lazy nuances absent
Four-story ships move out
Life continues
 
Gray days
Light breeze
Real time
For you to seize
 
 
Stanski
March 18, 2020 ^
 

I look at the Gulliver Creek
It is pooled on the north, but
streams narrowly under the road
and continues to flow until out of sight

Eventually it will become a part
of the great inland sea which
we call Lake Michigan

The whole of the water is really
a collection of many drops
much like grains of sand
making up the sugar beach

Many parts to make one
One made of many parts
The whole is important
The individual parts are necessary

The flow goes into the lake
becoming a part of it
Where does it go?

Does the wind blow it to the east?
Down toward the Mackinac Bridge?

Did my friend who swam across
The Straits of Mackinac this summer
swim through what was once
the beautiful Gulliver Creek

So much fun to contemplate
The possibilities are endless
Our potential is unlimited

We observe these things
Do we look at ourselves?
See how we fit into the whole?

We live in a wondrous world
When not confined, our endeavors
May be the beginning of great change

One never knows the ending,
but first there must be a beginning

We must not limit ourselves
to a state of dreaming
Dreams without action remain dreams

We want accomplishment
We desire goodness and dedicate 
ourselves to continual striving
 
Stanski
March 17, 2020 ^